The pickin's look mighty slim for the Yanks in the starting pitching area now that it looks like Boston's won the bid for Japaneze pitching phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka. It looked like a pretty big bid, too:
ESPN's Peter Gammons reported earlier on Monday that the Red Sox had the high bid. Previous reports have pegged the winning bid at $38-to-45 million and $42 million, but a source has indicated that the winning bid may be even higher than that.
Whether the Sox can sign him is a different story, but apparently Scott Boras is looking for Roy Oswalt money: around $14 million a year. It's a lot of risk to take on for an unproven Japanese pitcher and I'm almost relieved the Red Sox took him on. What's next for the Yankees? Their starting rotation with the exception of Wang is ancient. Schmidt and Zito are available, but even with signing one or the other that still leaves a gap at the number five starter until Philip Hughes is called up. Also, knowing the way Yankees pitchers have fared, they're gonna need a 5, 6, and 7 starter, too.